


Count Yourself Among Them

by hanktalkin



Series: The Pretty Follies that Themselves Commit [2]
Category: Team Fortress 2
Genre: Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-08
Updated: 2016-12-08
Packaged: 2018-09-07 08:50:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8791261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanktalkin/pseuds/hanktalkin
Summary: i promised i'd do an epilogue for the tattoo story and i'm finally fufuilling that <3





	

Tavish heard Jane shift in dark, the weight on his side sending swells throughout their shared bed. It was followed by a sigh as Jane unsuccessfully tried to get comfortable.

Tavish propped himself up on an elbow. “Cannae sleep?”

“Hm. I usually sleep on that side,” Jane grumbled into the night.

Tavish chuckled, and pulled the curtain on his side of the bed. Moonlight spilled in, illuminating the half-naked soldier as he tried to spare his sensitive flesh from laying on it. A ring of red, the irritation only a few hours old, encircled the new tattoo. Tavish traced his hand around it, carful not to touch it directly. Jane sighed, relaxing into the mattress. Blue, half-lidded eyes were barely visible as they blinked at Tavish.

“Thanks,” Jane muttered, and closed them once again.

A hand still rested above the fresh tattoo a moment longer, the artist not quite sure what he should be feeling right now. As he hovered over the spot on his partner’s body where his name was carved, he certainly felt a sense of belonging. Finality, maybe. The superstition that as long as this was permanent, so was everything else.

Slowly, he withdrew his hand and scooted closer to Jane. He lay back down, making sure not to hurt his own tattoo as he did. If only they were mirror images, the two could lie facing each other, but Jane had been firm on the small, mono-colored banners being left on the heart. So, in the compromise, Tavish would just have to lay on his other side.

He snuggled up to Jane, despite the warmth of the room. Jane’s arm slid over him, being equally careful not to touch his sensitive skin. They both drifted off, nothing to say that couldn’t be expressed in silent companionship.

* * *

“…And the least you could do is wear you hat forward so you look at least halfway like a professional!”

“Yo man! Don’t shout at the artist while he’s workin’!” Scout hollered back while he brandished his needle.

“Dunnae wave that around,” Tavish butt in, joining Jane and Scout’s argument. “You’ll poke someone’s eye out with that.”

Scout snorted. “I’ll make sure to get his left one then, so you two _really_ match.”

Jane looked about ready to slap Scout’s buckteeth right out of him. It was time to diffuse the situation.

“Just finish up, Scout. The longer you take, the more likely Jane’s goin’ tae give you a wedgie.”

After suppressing a fit of laughs and making a point not to look at Jane, Scout finished putting the last few details on the tattoo. Six little letters that spanned the former soldier’s ribcage, set against a simple bannered background. Tavish’s throat tightened just looking at it.

Scout had finished a different name less than an hour before, and it still burned against Tavish’s skin. Instead thinking about the irritation, he focused on the name’s owner, leaning back in the chair and watching the ceiling fan disturb the mid-morning dust flitt through the parlor and catch the light. Jane seemed to realize he was being started at, and moved his eyes from up above to parlor’s owner. He gave a half smile. Not quite his joyous grin that indicated the onset of his gruff laugh, or the small embarrassed one Tavish so liked to make him admit, but something calmer, more genuine.

When their eyes met, Tavish smiled back.

It had been Tavish’s idea to have Scout do the tattoos. He’d never be able to do his own, the angle near impossible, but didn’t feel right doing just Jane’s. So they’d reached another compromise: trusting Scout enough to bind them in holy tattoo-imony.

Scout leaned back in his chair, making sure he had gotten every last detail perfect. Tavish and Jane were still sharing a moment, a similar train of thought running through their heads. How had they gotten to this point? A meeting almost by chance, a selection at random from the phonebook to get an inked eagle. Friendship, then more than friendship, then months that bled into years. Somehow, in the back of his mind, Tavish had known they’d get to this point together. All this was to make it official.

“There you go pally,” Scout said with confidence. “The world’s worst engagement ring.”

“Watch it, Scooter,” Jane growled, “you’re still within neck-snapping distance.”

Scout snorted, but Tavish noticed he cleaned up his supplies faster than normal.

“How’s it feelin’?” Tavish asked as Jane put his shirt back on.

“Like Martha Washington herself is teasing me with a feather duster,” Jane replied drily.

Tavish laughed, but couldn’t think of what to say after that. He just grinned at Jane happily, completely love struck.

After standing and stretching, Jane noticed the dreamy look in Tavish’s eye. He chuckled, walking over and pulling the artist to his feet. “How about you? How are you feeling?”

Tavish relaxed as Jane placed a hand on the side of his neck. “Bloody fantastic,” he replied softly.

Jane kissed him, and they lingered in the shop a moment longer before Jane had to leave for work. Tavish still felt him, though. Through the touch on his lips and the burn below his heart.

Scout poked his head back out and commented, “you know, it’s not as cool as bein’ Best Man, but I guess I can handle it.”

“Shut up and get your little arse out here. I want tae talk tae you.”

A look of surprise briefly crossed over Scout’s face before it was replaced by his usual confidence.

“What?” he asked as he walked out and leaned against a supply cart. “Ya goin’ tell me I didn’t dot my Ts an’ cross my Is good enough for this establishment’s standards?”

“No,” Tavish mused thoughtfully. “Nothin’ like that.”

Scout shuffled in apprehension a moment longer. Even someone as insouciant as him could tell something was up, and Tavish didn’t keep him in suspense any longer.

“I feel like recently has been a time o’ showin’ people who are important tae you that you appreciate them,” Tavish began. “It’s nae just about havin’ friends and loved ones and expectin’ them tae know you care. Sometimes you got tae say things out loud, lest you start fallin’ intae complacency.”

“Ooooohh,” Scout smirked, “is that what this is? Then say no more, buddy. I love you too.”

Tavish smiled, but didn’t laugh. “Ah, close, but nae were I was goin’ with this.”

Scout raised an eyebrow, the cart squeaking as he pushed himself off it. The joke of the day wasn’t quite what he thought it was.

“You’ve been here a long time, Scout,” Tavish explained. “God knows I wouldnae be able tae keep this place goin’ without you. So I want tae show you what you mean with actions instead o’ words.” He took a breath, knowing he had Scout’s full attention. “I’m offerin’ you a partnership in the company.”

Scout’s eyes widened as big as his beloved baseballs. His mouth hung open, letting out a startled, “wha?”

“Fifty-fifty split,” Tavish elaborated. “You stopped bein’ me apprentice long ago, I think. You deserve as much as you’ve put into the _Eye_ , and it’s about time I delivered on that. So, what do you say?”

Scout looked at Tavish’s outstretched hand and made a strangled noise in the back of his throat. He then looked up at Tavish, his widened eyes full of disbelief and maybe a bit of moisture.

“Please dunnae cry on me Scout,” Tavish warned.

“F-fuck you,” Scout sputtered. “I’m not cryin’, _you’re_ cryin’!”

Scout grabbed Tavish’s hand, barely shaking it before he had to start wiping tears with the heel of his palm. Tavish took pity on the younger man, pulling him into a hug.

“N-now who’s the p-pussy? Fuckin’ needs a hug just because…just because…”

Scout gave up, and hugged Tavish back. Eventually, when he thought his face was clear enough he could look Tavish in the eye again, Scout jerked back, doing his darndest to pretend like his cheeks weren’t still wet.

Tavish smiled. “Now that that’s all out o’ the way with, I want this place swept top tae bottom. It’s dusty as hell in here.”

“What?” Scout blinked. “What about all that partner crap we just talked about?”

Tavish rolled his eye. “Aye, and as partners we’re goin’ tae clean this store _together_ you lazy git. Now grab the brooms in the back and let’s get to work.”

Scout smiled. “I hate you.”

“No you dunnae.”

Scout brought the brooms, and they got to work.

* * *

The moonlight made it difficult to close his eye, and Tavish pulled the curtain back into place. He heard Jane shift once more in the dark.

“Still no?”

“I’ll get there eventually,” Jane muttered into the pillow.

Tavish tried lying on his back, looking at the inky blackness of their ceiling. The loft they shared had originally been Tavish’s, but after much needling, Jane had been convinced to give up his cramped apartment and come to stay. It had taken more work for Jane to quit his job at the factory, even with how miserable the place made him. He now worked at the hardware store down the street, a business that at least offered him humane hours.

“I offered Scout a partnership in the shop,” Tavish said suddenly to the darkness above them.

“Please do not bring up Scout while I am trying to sleep,” Jane mumbled.

“I’m serious, Jane,” Tavish said, once again propping himself up. “Things are changin’, I think for the better. I want everyone I care about to…” His hand wandered to where he’d been marked earlier that day. “…To know that.”

Jane was silent for a few moments, taking in the deeper meaning. He slid his over to Tavish’s, still resting on the bed. Sighing, Tavish pressed a kiss against his knuckles.

“I love you,” he said.

“I hope so,” Jane replied. “Do you know how expensive laser removal is?”

Tavish burst out laughing, Jane not lasting long either before descending into chuckles. Tavish snuggled back against Jane’s chest, feeling the vibrations from their shared mirth. Within seconds, they were once again done in. Too exhausted to keep talking, they settled into the mattress, arms intertwined, names taken.


End file.
